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Edward VIII Stamps of Australia

A large article about Proposed Edward VIII Stamps of Australia is published in the October issue of Gibbons Stamp Monthly.

The short reign of Edward VIII in 1936 represented a constitutional time bomb caused by the king’s determination to marry his sweetheart, Wallis Simpson. In common with many British Empire postal administrations, the Australian Post Ofice made extensive preparations for a series of Edward VIII stamps. Everything came to an abrupt end with the abdication, but in Australia’s case there was a complication. A block of six 2d. Edward VIII stamps had been presented to a British philatelist and it could not be retrieved for destruction. The unique block of six stamps had been part of the Vestey Collection for 60 years when it was publicly exhibited for the rst time in 1996. Up to this stage, practically no one had any inkling these remarkable stamps existed. It took 60 years for the story to emerge. Now the unique block is to be offered for auction on 16 October...

From Chinese provisionals, Classic India and desirable GB errors, right through to the ever popular collections and mixed lots, there is surely something for everyone at Stanley Gibbons Auctions in October.

The sale takes place at the firm’s Strand auction rooms on 2 and 3 October and comprises over 1800 lots. It opens with foreign, where China includes two extraordinary lots of local surcharges issued in Yunnan Province during the silver Yuan currency revaluation period. Half-sheets of 100 of the 1c. to 30c. surcharged in the local silver currency (SG 1333/40) are estimated at £10,000–12,000, while an irregular block of 76 of the 12c. on $200 chocolate, surcharged in normal Chinese currency (1343) carries a pre-sale estimate of £12,000–14,000. These and other similar lots in the China section were purchased at the post of ce in Kunming by a relative of the vendor and are thus totally new to the market.

Elsewhere in the foreign section, there is a fine group of German South West Africa stamps and covers and useful USA, including some substantial collections.

The Philatelic Traders Society (PTS) has announced the formation of a new company that will take charge of the running of the popular Stampex exhibition. According to the PTS, the new company, PTS Stamp and Coin Exhibitions Ltd, has been created to keep Stampex at the forefront of international stamp exhibitions and to make it the principal European event for the foreseeable future. The new company will organise and operate the bi-annual Stampex exhibitions, as well as any other events in which it is involved, although no details of these have yet been revealed.

In order to create the new company, the PTS has been working closely with the Royal Philatelic Society (RPSL) and leading members of the stamp trade. The new company, affiliated to, but entirely separate from the PTS, will give the RPSL - and by extension, all collectors’ groups - a more active role in the administration and organisation of the Stampex event. This will include the immediate increase in the area dedicated to display frames.